You're not alone. My quilting buddy bought a Bernina 770 combo sewing/embroidery machine. She too had been saving up a long time. We went to the Daytona quilt show a few yr. ago where she tried out the demo at dealer's boothe. After trying a couple of other brands, she went back to Berniana booth and ordered hers. Once it arrived, she drove many miles to weekly lessons and felt more confident. However, she kept having issues. Months later, she traded it in and bought a good mechanical Juki straight stitch machine and was glad she'd kept her older Babylock embroidery/ sewing machine as backup. I used to own a Bernina 1030 from 1985, and used it daily in my custom drapery business. I sold all my equipment with the business upon retiring. I heard from a former employee that the old Swiss made 1030 is still running!